What 3 Elements Should Be in Every Funeral Sermon?

By Brian Croft

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The important truths to emphasize in every funeral sermon.

I was contacted last week by a pastor asking this question and thought there might be others asking it also. The most helpful advice I ever received about preaching at a funeral for someone I didn’t know is: “Don’t preach them into heaven. Don’t preach them into hell. Just preach the gospel for the people who are there.” This principle captures our task regardless of the kind of funeral we do. Ironically, though we focus on remembering and celebrating the life of the deceased, the funeral service is ultimately for those who attend.
The sermon is where the gospel must be preached clearly. Only when we can personally have confidence in a person’s conversion should we feel comfortable to speak of the heavenly reward he/she has now received. If there is any doubt in your mind, it is best to focus on the gospel for your hearers and resist the temptation to provide a false comfort that you have little or no basis to give.
A funeral sermon should not exceed 20 minutes and should highlight these three categories, preferably expounded from a text(s) of Scripture:

1) Acknowledge the need to grieve. 

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11) is particularly helpful as there seems to be a legitimate time of grieving for those present and sorrow for those who are experiencing the separation that death brings, including Jesus who wept (John 11:35). I often share of the time my father sat my wife and me down, once we found out we had miscarried with our second child, and exhorted us to take time to grieve over this child, instructing us how to do so.
Don’t ever presume that people realize that grief is appropriate or that they know how to work through their grief by simply talking about their deceased loved one. In actuality, many do not want to talk about them because of the hurt felt in loss. Many pastors know that often, years later, people learn the value of this process, eventually working through the grief with some pastoral guidance.

2) Make the hope of the gospel clearly known.

True hope in grief cannot come apart from the hope of the gospel. This is why the second and third portion of a funeral sermon focus on Christ’s person and work. Whatever text you choose to preach, make sure you are able to focus on the clear elements of the gospel from it: God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness and deserving judgment, Christ’s perfect personhood and atoning work to save us, our essential response to repent and believe upon Christ.

3) Call your hearers to respond to the gospel.

To do so appropriately and effectively, you must prepare by knowing as much as you can about your hearers as well as the deceased. You should assume Christians and non-Christians are present. You should assume they all have come with a preconceived understanding on how we receive eternal life. For example, I have done a funeral where 90 percent of those in attendance were devoted Catholics, another who were Mormons and another where no one in the building had ever stepped foot in a church.
In every case, I explained the gospel clearly, called my hearers to repent of their sins, believe upon Christ and trust in him. Yet, in each of these different situations, I approached calling them to respond to the gospel differently, depending upon their preconceived understanding of the “good news.” Exhort them to grieve. Preach the gospel clearly and simply. Help them understand their need for Christ as death is before them. Call them to repent and believe.  

Brian Croft is senior pastor of Auburndale Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is also the author of "Visit the Sick: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Illness (foreword by Mark Dever) and "Test, Train, Affirm, and Send Into Ministry: Recovering the Local Church’s Responsibility to the External Call" (foreword by R. Albert Mohler Jr.). Brian blogs regularly at Practical Shepherding. More from Brian Croft or visit Brian at http://practicalshepherding.com/

Evangelism Never Changes, but the Methods Do

By Ed Stetzer

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“Jesus Christ is the only hope for any country in every era.”

Evangelism is not recruitment.
Evangelism is not even outreach.
Outreach can lead to evangelism, but you can have outreach all day and never announce the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Evangelism is when people are challenged directly with the gospel and invited to respond.
Many people may stumble at that point, but we always want people to hear and respond to the good news of the Gospel.

Evangelism Never Changes

Evangelism always involves a bloody cross and an empty tomb. It always involves Jesus’ death on the cross for our sin and in our place.
Those facts are a constant. Without that message, there is no evangelism since there is no good news.
Evangelism is transcultural and universal, and it goes throughout every era of time. It is men and women being called to trust and follow Jesus, to believe that the power of the Gospel transforms upon repentance of their sins.
But how we do evangelism—how we get to the point of gospel proclamation—is impacted by the when and where of culture.

Methods of Evangelism Change Over Time

Evangelism is always going to involve calling people to repentance, to trust and follow Christ, and to be born again by the power of His Gospel. But we can think about eras of evangelistic methodologies.
A few decades ago many people came to Christ when they heard great radio preachers. Radio evangelism was significant and cutting edge.
The bus ministry in the 1970s and ’80s was once a meaningful evangelism method. (My sister rode a bus to a church on Long Island outside of New York City. She heard the challenging claims of the Gospel, then trusted and followed Christ as a young girl. That led to my mother hearing the Gospel, and then me hearing the Gospel.)
Evangelistic crusades were large gatherings typically in a stadium or arena where people could bring their friends to hear the good news of the Gospel. God is continuing to use meetings like that around the world and even here.
In 1988, I started my first church in Buffalo, New York, on the heels of a Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade. Consider that Graham’s largest meeting in the world was in Seoul, Korea, in 1973 with more than one million people.
But currently, meeting-based evangelism has declined in frequency and some debate effectiveness. Still, that method has not ended if God has gifted someone as an evangelist to equip God’s people for works of ministry to the building up of the body of Christ. Graham, his son, Franklin, and others can still preach a meeting and people will come to hear the truth of the Gospel and many will respond by grace through faith.
I lead a small group in my neighborhood every Sunday night. I might not be able to take them to a Billy Graham crusade, but I can invite them to my home because they already know me and they trust me. My neighbors two houses down on one side and another three houses down on the other side come regularly. We don’t have to rely on large-meeting evangelism.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association itself has concluded that home-based evangelism is the next method of evangelism that God is using in our society. In what may have been Billy Graham’s last great opportunity to share the Gospel on a national stage, they put together the My Hope America evangelistic campaign to get the message of the gospel into as many homes as possible.
Jesus Christ is the only hope for any country in every era. Our honor and joy is to participate with Christ in evangelizing the not-yet believers in effective ways.
While we should be thankful the message of evangelism never changes, we should pray that we will always be sensitive to the changing methods so that many people will have the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Ed Stetzer is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN.
More from Ed Stetzer or visit Ed at http://www.edstetzer.com/

10 Things Pastors Never Want to Hear

By Summer Stevens

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Stop saying these things to our beloved pastors.

After an especially emotionally taxing message one Sunday, my husband was shaking hands and greeting people at the door. On the way out, one gentleman said to him, “I just heard the same message this week on the radio, same stories and everything! Do you buy your sermons somewhere?” He was stunned, having never purchased a sermon in his life, and he’d found all his own original illustrations that week to fit the message. All he could do was stammer a “no” as the man left for the parking lot, the wind knocked out of his sails. And then tried to put on a smiling face for the next person in line, who had just heard the entire conversation.
Here are 10 things you never want to say to your pastor:
1. “You only work one day a week.” Every pastor has heard this, either with a joking elbow to the ribs, or from a sincere patron who really believes it. But this comment stings, especially since most pastors struggle to take even one day off a week.
2. “You weren’t preaching that sermon to me, were you?” There are two ways this comment can be made. The first one is an encouraging, “I really needed to hear that and it was like you were preaching right to me!” The second comes from someone who felt convicted and therefore angry that his pastor would dare bring up any of his shortcomings. This is one of the reasons you come to church, right? If you are closed to God’s working in your heart, then you are probably coming to church for the wrong reasons.
3. “We are all here volunteering, at least you are getting paid.” This is a true statement, but one that hurts for several reasons. First of all, yes, this is the pastor’s job, and the way he supports his family. Secondly, you are a volunteer, which means you can step out of your position at any time, for any reason, with relative ease. Finally, consider the fact that the small church pastor especially has to be present at almost every church function, meeting, baptism and service, whereas volunteers have the leisure to pick and choose what they’d like to attend. Even if, as a volunteer, you attend all church activities, remember that it’s your choice to be there. For your pastor, is a requirement of his job.
4. “Boy, you sure are on vacation a lot.” Just because a pastor is not in the pulpit doesn’t mean he’s taking a vacation day. There are many reasons a pastor may not preach: He’s researching a new series, he’s participating or teaching at an educational conference or retreat, or he’s performing an out of town wedding or funeral. Other times he may be present at church while another pastor or missionary gives the message. On these weeks, your pastor doesn’t take a few days to go golfing; instead, these weeks are usually a much needed opportunity to catch up on vision casting, read relevant ministry books that he’s been putting off, or plan for a retreat.
5. “You can afford that, we all know what you make.” There are a lot of reasons you should never say something like this to your pastor. First of all, it’s awkward enough for a pastor’s family to have their salary not only posted in an annual report, but voted on by the congregation. Beyond that, the number in the budget can be misleading. Many churches will include the entire salary package, which could include health insurance, a retirement contribution, or a book or travel allowance. These things should not be included under a general “salary” section as they are misleading as to how much the pastor actually earns. Next, most people don’t know, but pastors are considered self-employed for IRS tax purposes. That means that he has to pay the “employer part” of Social Security and Medicare taxes (he must include his housing allowance in this). So, whatever number is on the budget, chop off 15.3 percent right off the top. Finally, records show that pastors are among the most faithful tithers in the church, and most pastors use a portion of their personal salary beyond their tithe to personally give to needy members of the church or open their home and their refrigerators to serve people.
6. “Your kids need to be setting an example.” PKs have enough to overcome without added stress from the congregation. You didn’t hire your pastor’s children, you hired him. Believe me, he already feels the stress of his children’s behavior without you saying anything. If you want to discourage your pastor, pick on his kids.
7. “I don’t trust you.” This can be said in about 100 different ways. It may be in the way the elder board checks up on his calendar, or your response to where he feels the Lord is leading the church. I knew a pastor once whose board required that he submit receipts for pizza he bought every week for the youth group and go through the reimbursement procedure instead of trusting him with a church debit or credit card. It was a small thing, but it said loudly, “I don’t trust you.” If you can trust that God is speaking through your pastor, you also need to be able to trust him in the small stuff.
8. “The Lord told me ___________ about you.” This can be tricky, because it’s difficult to disagree with. God may indeed reveal things to you about your pastor, but especially if it’s critical in nature, it’s usually best to let the Holy Spirit do His own speaking to him. Some people use this tactic in manipulative ways, so many pastors are weary of this.
9. “You need to deal with ______________ (insert difficult person’s name here).” No, YOU need to deal with this difficult person! Pastors often get “dumped on” to sort out interpersonal or family issues that frankly he has nothing to do with. Group counseling is one thing, but asking your pastor to go visit the disgruntled person that you offended is a stress for him, and robs you of the opportunity to seek personal reconciliation.
10. “Why doesn’t your wife attend ______________ (church function)?” Pastor’s wives are notoriously absent at women’s Bible studies, work days and retreats. There are many very legitimate reasons your pastor’s wife could be MIA, but again, you didn’t hire your pastor’s wife, you hired your pastor. She should be free to attend or not attend church functions based on preference, not obligation. And if she doesn’t come to anything, yes, there is a reason, and there probably is a problem.
Summer Stevens, a devoted pastor’s wife. After 8 years of marriage and ministry, these are the top 10 discouraging statements she has observed that are sure to discourage and devalue your pastor. More from Summer Stevens

Who Are Your 3? Your 12? Your 70? Your Thousands?

By Brandon Cox

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“If you want to grow in any sense—spiritually, intellectually, professionally, etc.—you’re going to need to intentionally develop and foster a close relationship with a few grace-oriented truth-tellers.”

With whom are you doing life? What I mean is, with whom do you spend time hanging out and talking about the deepest things of life? Whom do you sharpen, and who sharpens you?
Jesus lived toward the cross and the resurrection, and his singular focus on his end game motivated him to live very intentionally. He depended on God for constant guidance and made choices rather strategically. For example …

One day soon afterward, Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose 12 of them to be apostles.
—Luke 6:12-13 NLT

Jesus had thousands of followers.
He had dozens of disciples.
He picked 12 to train more deeply and send out.
And he had three that were with him even more often.
I think there’s a pattern there for us to follow when it comes to the goal of our lives as Christians. Whether you want to call it discipleship, leadership development or just plain friendship, I’m convinced we need to intentionally develop relationships with these circles of people in our lives. We need to pour ourselves into others, and we need to be poured into ourselves by others.
We need to gather with our “thousands.” I don’t think this is about the number, I think it’s about the environment. To put it more simply, we need to be part of a weekly gathering with other followers of Jesus, some of whom we might know personally, but many of whom simply share our common bond of being part of God’s forever family together. We can sing together, be taught and equipped together, and serve together, but we can’t go deep together. Therefore …
We need to have a network of “dozens.” Beyond attending a weekly worship service with a large group of friends and acquaintances, we need to get to know people by name. This is our network. Whether you attend a church of 100 or 100,000, you’ll never go deeper with the entire body. But you can go deeper with a network of people with whom you intentionally stay in touch. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed that the average human cannot cognitively maintain friendship with more than approximately 150 people. I think he was onto something. We may have thousands of “friends” via social networks, but we probably only maintain actual friendship with a small percentage of those.
We need a small group. There isn’t anything magical about the number 12, but there does seem to be an interesting correlation to the average small group that gathers for a weekly time of Bible study and prayer. This is the circle of people with whom we will pray together, talk about life on a personal level and mutually encourage one another. It’s where accountability begins in an informal sense. People who tend to “stick” to a church are usually those who have tied themselves to a small group.
We need a handful of close friends. Jesus spent more time with Peter, James and John than the rest of the disciples, and this was intentional on Jesus’ part. He wasn’t showing favoritism. Rather, Jesus knew that there needed to be a tightly knit core of friends in his life. This is the circle of people with whom we hang out to talk about our spiritual growth and development on the deepest levels. We pour wisdom into them, and they pour it right back into us.
If you want to grow in any sense—spiritually, intellectually, professionally, etc.—you’re going to need to intentionally develop and foster a close relationship with a few grace-oriented truth-tellers. Who are your handful?
So, who are your three?
Who are your 12?
Who is your network of dozens?
And with whom do you gather as a larger body?
If you can’t spit the names of your few or your dozen out pretty quickly, start working today on developing relationships. How? Well, not by passively waiting for friendship to happen. Reach out. Encourage. Invest. Give. And BE a friend, a mentor and a leader.
And if you want to read the best book ever written on this subject, check out Robert the Master Plan of Evangelism.   

Brandon Cox is Lead Pastor of Grace Hills Church, a new church plant in northwest Arkansas. He also serves as Editor and Community Facilitator for Pastors.com and Rick Warren's Pastor's Toolbox and was formerly a Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. In his spare time, he offers consultation to church leaders about communication, branding, and social media. He and his wife, Angie, live with their two awesome kids in Bentonville, Arkansas. More from Brandon Cox or visit Brandon at http://brandonacox.com/

Why Your Church Should Be on Social Media Right Now

By Ed Stetzer

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“Social media is no longer a fad. It is established in our culture.”

My mother-in-law is on Facebook, which can be, well, fun. The same is true for my teenage daughter.
Actually, about three-fourths of online adults are on some form of social networking.
This means that for the sake of the gospel and the mission, your church needs to have a voice there as well.

Social Media Is the New Town Square

Throughout history, people of all generations have gathered in town squares—public spaces where the local community gathers for social and commercial purposes. In the old days, it used to be a literal “town square,” and it still is in some places. Until social media came around, town squares were shopping malls and other social areas. Social media is the 21st century town square.
The Apostle Paul preached in open squares where the people gathered. In Acts 13, it was to the Jews at Antioch in Pisidia. In Acts 17, it was to the literal town square of conversation—Mars Hill.
People today aren’t sitting around in debate clubs. They aren’t going to the town squares in the middle of cities. Instead, they’re having discussions on social media. It’s where people are gathering, debating, discussing ideas and connecting with others. Why wouldn’t you want to be there?
If churches truly want to see the Gospel impact and influence a community, they should go to the place where the most significant conversation is actually taking place right now. Today, that’s on social media.

Strategically Utilize Your Social Media Demographic

Let’s take a look at some stats from Pew Research for three major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which are going to be the most important for your church to engage. Pinterest is an important one, but really only among women. If you are able, you would be wise to set up a sort of women’s ministry Pinterest account, but you probably don’t need a church-wide account on that platform.
First, Facebook.

Facebook

In short, everyone uses Facebook. There is no one demographic that is significantly more attracted to Facebook than others, though women of all backgrounds are more likely than men to be on Facebook.

• 71 percent of all online adults use Facebook.
• 58 percent of the entire adult population use Facebook.
• 66 percent of all online men use Facebook versus 77 percent of all online women.
• What about age groups? How does each generation use Facebook? The stats are unsurprising, but for the first time ever, more than half of online adults over the age of 65 are using Facebook. Here’s the breakdown:
  
• 87 percent of all online 18-29 year olds use Facebook.
• 73 percent of all online 30-49 year olds use Facebook.
• 63 percent of all online 50-64 year olds use Facebook.
• 56 percent of all online 65+ year olds use Facebook.

It’s fair to say that your church needs to have a presence on Facebook. The vast majority of online adults are there, so you should be. But Facebook isn’t the only social network people are using.
Pew Research reports, as of 2014, “52 percent of online adults now use two or more social media sites, a significant increase from 2013, when it stood at 42 percent of Internet users.”
Let’s take a look at Twitter.

Twitter

Twitter users tend to be racially diverse, but amidst their racial diversity, it does seem that many Twitter users are young, college-educated, wealthy and living in urban areas.
Here are some key Twitter stats:

• 37 percent of online 18-29 year olds use Twitter, as opposed to 25 percent of 30-49 year olds and 12 percent of 50-64 year olds.
• 30 percent of online college or graduate-level graduates use Twitter, as opposed to 16 percent of online high school (or less) graduates.
• 27 percent of online adults who make $50,000 a year or more use Twitter, as opposed to 20 percent who make less than $30,000 per year.
• 25 percent of online adults in urban settings use Twitter, compared to 23 percent in suburban settings and 17 percent in rural areas.

Suffice to say, Twitter is a good place for your church to be no matter what, but especially if you’re in an upper-middle class city or university setting. Set up and account and connect with your community.
Finally, check out Instagram:

Instagram

Instagram is almost as racially diverse as Twitter, but it is actually more popular among African Americans and Latinos than it is among White people. According to Pew’s statistics, the most common Instagram user is likely an African American woman between ages 18 and 29 who’s had some college education and lives in an urban area.
Some Instagram stats to consider:

• 29 percent of online women use Instagram, compared with 22 percent of online men.
• 38 percent of online African Americans use Instagram, along with 34 percent of online Latinos and 21 percent of online Whites.
• 53 percent of online 18-29 year olds are on Instagram, as opposed to 29 percent 30-49 year olds,and 11 percent of 50-64 year olds.

Instagram is a crucial social media platform for your youth or young adult ministries. This social media platform is growing rapidly, and Instagram is great for sharing pictures and videos of what’s going on in your ministries.

A Few Applications

Because people are there, here a few things church leadership should consider.
First, every church should have an active Facebook presence—and that presence must be public and not simply a semi-private group page. A group page is acceptable for internal communication, but every church needs to have a public page as well.
A Facebook page’s full potential is seen with two-way conversations and not just one-way announcements.

Social media is no longer a fad. It is established in our culture.

Facebook is a great way to engage with guests after they’ve visited your church, though that is probably best done through someone’s personal account and not the official church Facebook page.
One of the ways I’ve seen Facebook put to great use by churches and other ministries is in the area of prayer. Today, it can be pretty tough to make sure you have everyone’s most current email address, which makes emailing major church issues or announcements and asking for prayer somewhat difficult. Through Facebook though, your church can share a major prayer request or physical need someone may have, and instantly, church members or people in the community can respond and help in any way they can.
Twitter is not as essential for the local church as Facebook is, simply because many more people use Facebook, but Twitter is no less useful. A church on Twitter can share events, interact with church members and visitors, and engage with culture.
Further, Instagram is a platform that gives your church an opportunity to share pictures of your ministry, promotional videos for upcoming events, and even encouraging quotes or Bible verses. Instagram is especially important among younger demographics.

“All Things to All People”

Social media is no longer a fad. It is established in our culture. And churches should do everything they can to engage the public in this forum. As of January 2014, 74 percent of all adults who have some sort of presence online use social media—your church needs to be accessible there.
With some strategic thought, churches can reach those who are regularly using social media. The Apostle Paul provides some insight for churches that are still on the fence:

“I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so I may become a partner in its benefits” (1 Corinthians 9:22b-23, emphasis added).

All of the stats in this blog post are from Pew Research Center’s 2014 Social Media Update, which you can access here.  

​Chris Martin contributed to this blog post.
Ed Stetzer is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN.
More from Ed Stetzer or visit Ed at http://www.edstetzer.com/

Why People Leave the Church—The Minority Report

By Shane Bishop

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Is the church really to blame when people leave?

In the early days of my ministry, not many people left our church. I was in a rural area, there wasn’t much competition and people were loyal to the institutions of their community. They would no more leave our church than they would send their children to another high school, stop doing business at our only bank or stop shopping at our local grocery store. They were loyal to the few institutions they had because they instinctively knew if they didn’t support them, they would lose them.
When people left our church, it was normally for one of four reasons:
1. Move—This really didn’t come up very often except for our young people. Not many people moved into our community, fewer moved out, but there wasn’t much of an economy to keep the students, especially those who went to college. Some young people left, but everyone else tended to stay.
2. Shut-in—Our main back door consisted of older people who simply couldn’t make it to church in bad weather, then not in the winter and then not at all. They would soon move from home to an assisted care facility or move in with family, but they still read every word in the newsletter and considered us their church.
3. Die—Death was clearly the most acceptable reason to quit church, and the whole community showed up to celebrate life and our great faith. Growing up in a church and dying in that same church was empirical evidence of a life lived well.
4. Mad—When people did leave, it was normally because they were mad at someone; it might be me, but more often it was with someone else about something outside of church. It was bleed-over kind of mad. Teacher strikes, competition for farmland coming up for sale and community political squabbles fueled people getting mad, but honestly, it didn’t happen very often either. And when people quit, they usually came back.
That was about it. Then the world changed, I moved to the suburbs and after a few years our medium-sized church became huge. I had heard about the back doors in big churches, but in recent years, I have found such back doors to be universally true. Our congregation has grown every year for 18 straight years, but we continue to lose a lot of people through the back door. This troubled me greatly for years, but upon prayer and thought, I am beginning to see things a bit differently these days.

Here is why people leave our church:
1. Consumers—Because we live in the age of the consumer, some people have no more institutional loyalty to a church than they do a big box store or a restaurant. They shop widely for goods and services (including the Internet), want them as cheap as possible, and often utilize the ministries of two or three churches to meet their needs. They send their kids to day care here, worship there; Bible school here and take a Bible study there.
2. Called—We live in an era of bivocational lay ministers, and I think this is a great thing. But as a result, many gifted leaders seek a “call” to a congregation and when they can’t conduct the exact ministry they came to offer or feel their ministry is complete, they move on. They are not mad; they are “released.” They came to serve … and to leave.
3. Loss of Connection—This one gets a lot of press and it should. In a virtual world, people are clearly longing for real relationships. They want to do life with people who know their names and are of the same age and stage. Or at least they think they want to. Though we offer many such opportunities, many still can’t find that desired connection, and some particularly find such a connection challenging in a large church. It is naïve to think people will stay if you offer more programs. It often really isn’t you, it is them.
4. Drifters—I used to call these church hoppers, but drifters sounds cooler and less judgmental. These folks, and there are a lot of them, just drift from church to church (mainly large ones) and don’t take root anywhere. They are looking for personal faith tips, entertainment, bore easily, don’t volunteer, don’t give and would prefer to live out their faith in anonymous fashion. When the church calls upon its members to step up for something like a building project or a capital campaign, they simply move on. No harm. No foul. Individual churches are like shelters along the Appalachian Trail for these folks; you stay for the night and continue your personal journey.
In a world that wants to blame the institutional church for everything and megachurches for everything else, I would like to offer these observations as a minority report. It is not always the church’s fault, and sometimes it is not anyone’s fault. In this new world, many people are going to stop by your church as they travel though life. Many of these folks will stay for a while and move on. Rather than worry about things you can’t change, I suggest you pour all the Jesus you can into them while you have them. That way, whether they leave tomorrow or stay for a lifetime, we have given them something of true worth! 
Christ Church weekend worship attendance has increased from 200 to over 2,100 each weekend since Shane’s appointment in 1997. He was named The Distinguished Evangelist of the United Methodist Church in 2010. Christ Church has three regional campuses and has planted two international sister churches in the Philippines and Honduras. He resides in Belleville, Illinois with his wife Melissa. The couple has two adult children, three grandsons and a granddaughter!
More from Shane Bishop or visit Shane at http://mychristchurch.com

Christian Media Barely Reaching Beyond the Faithful

By Guest Contributor

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By Bob Smietana
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Christian broadcasters have a devoted following, with about two-thirds of weekly churchgoers and evangelicals saying they tune in to Christian radio and television on a regular basis.
Christian books have a similar use by churchgoers and evangelicals and Christian movies remain popular, with about 4 in 10 Americans having seen one in the last year.
But many Americans ignore Christian media.
Those are among the findings of a new study on the use of Christian media from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. The study, sponsored by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), included an online survey of 2,252 Americans and a phone survey of 1,009 Americans.
“Christian media delivers teaching, music, and entertainment to a predominantly Christian constituency,” says Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research. “Not surprisingly, those who embrace Christian teaching will value and consume these the most.” Stetzer released the study’s findings during the NRB national convention in Nashville, February 24.
Researchers found demographic splits between those who frequently or sometimes listen to or watch Christian broadcasts and those who rarely or never tune in.
Self-identified evangelicals (69 percent), weekly church attenders (62 percent), and African-Americans (54 percent) are more likely to watch Christian television.
They are also more likely to listen to Christian radio compared to 32 percent of all Americans.
About two-thirds of evangelicals (67 percent) and more than half of weekly church attenders (57 percent) are fans of Christian radio. Just under half (46 percent) of African Americans also tune in. Overall, about 1 in 4 (27 percent) Americans frequently or sometimes listen to Christian radio.
More Protestants and non-denominational Christians (45 percent) watch Christian television than Catholics (28 percent). Radio has a similar denominational split. Just under half (41 percent) of Protestants and nondenominational Christians tune in, along with 1 in 5 (21 percent) Catholics.
“It’s stunning to see how many American believers are listening to or watching Christian media,” said Jerry Johnson, president of National Religious Broadcasters, an international association of Christian broadcasters and communicators. “It’s also encouraging to learn how new forms are emerging.”
“But we must be more effective stewards of all media forms, especially to reach those who have yet to believe,” Johnson said.
Christian books fare about the same as Christian broadcasting. About a third of Americans (33 percent) say they frequently or sometimes read Christian books. Two-thirds (65 percent) rarely or never read Christian books.
Still, many Americans have little contact with Christian media.
Two-thirds of Americans (67 percent) rarely or never watch Christian television. Those who skip church all together (94 percent) or have no religious affiliation (89 percent) rarely or never watch.
Seven in 10 Americans (72 percent) rarely or never listen to Christian radio. They include those with no religious affiliation (94 percent) or who rarely (84 percent) or never (97 percent) attend church.
Christian movies have wider appeal
Four in 10 (40 percent) Americans say they’ve watched a Christian movie in the last year. About half (51 percent) have not. One in 10 (9 percent) are not sure.
Americans over 65 (31 percent) are less likely to have seen a Christian movie than those 18-29 (40 percent). African-Americans (59 percent), evangelicals (74 percent) and weekly churchgoers (64 percent) are more likely to have seen a Christian movie.
Those with no religious affiliation (11 percent) and those from non-Christian faiths (37 percent) are least likely to have seen a Christian film.
“Great movies hinge on great stories and the Bible is filled with great stories,” says Stetzer.” These numbers show that many Americans are watching, and perhaps this will encourage more and better films.”
Online media has more fans
Christian media has found a significant audience online.
One in 4 Americans (25 percent) say they watch or listen to Christian programming every week on their computer, phone or tablet, according to the phone survey. An additional 5 percent tune in online monthly. One in 10 (9 percent) watch or listen online less than once a month.
“That would amount to over 60 million adult Americans each week,” explained Stetzer.
Six in 10 (60 percent) never watch or listen on their computer, smartphone or tablet.
Few (4 percent) Americans listen to Christian podcasts frequently. About 1 in 10 listen sometimes. Most Americans (84 percent) rarely or never listen to Christian podcasts.
Bob Smietana is senior writer for Facts & Trends magazine.

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Methodology:
The online survey of adult Americans was conducted Sept. 17-18, 2014. A sample of an online panel demographically reflecting the adult population of the US was invited to participate. Responses were weighted by region, age, ethnicity, gender and income to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 2,252 online surveys.
The phone survey of Americans was conducted Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2015. The calling utilized Random Digit Dialing. Fifty percent of completes were among landlines and 50 percent among cell phones. Weights were used for geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,009 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.1 percent. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.
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Is Legalism Killing Your Joy In Ministry?

By Rick Warren

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Legalism is a ministry killjoy. It destroys the natural joy that comes from serving others in ministry like nothing else I’ve seen. I’ve seen more ministries ruined by legalism than anything else.
What is legalism? Legalism happens when we substitute our rules and rituals for our relationship with Christ. It’s a subtle trap that takes the focus off of what God has done for you and slowly turns it to what you have done for God.
In Philippians 3, Paul tells us flat out that he’s tried legalism. In the process, he points out five different ways he had been a legalist – ways that still haunt many of us today.
Legalism is putting your trust in rituals. Paul says, “I was circumcised eight days after I was born according to the Jewish law.” (Phil. 3:5a) Today, a Christian might say, “I was baptized,” or “I joined the church,” or “I took communion.” All of those are good, but they don’t earn God’s approval.
Legalism is putting your trust in a race. Paul says, “Of the people of Israel, I was of the tribe of Benjamin.” (Phil. 3:5b) I’ve got the royal pedigree here. It’s like people today who say they have a relationship with God because their uncle was a missionary or their mom was a believer. It doesn’t work that way. Everyone has to make his or her own decision to follow Jesus.
Legalism is putting your trust in a religion. Paul says, “I’m a Hebrew of Hebrews.” (Phil. 3:5c) Some Christians today say the same thing. They point to their denomination when asked about their relationship with God. When we get to heaven, God won’t ask us what denomination we are – he’ll ask us how we responded to his Son, Jesus.
Legalism is putting your trust in rules. Paul also says, “In regard to the law, I was a Pharisee.” (Phil. 3:6a) The Pharisees were the spiritually elite. They turned the Ten Commandments into 613! Ten just wasn’t enough for them. They would not eat an egg that had been laid on the Sabbath because the hen had to “work” by laying it. They would not scratch a mosquito bite on the Sabbath because that was considered work. By bringing attention to his background as a Pharisee, Paul is saying, “You want to talk about rules? I kept the rules!”
Legalism is putting your trust in reputation. Finally, Paul adds, “As for zeal, and as for legalistic righteousness, I was faultless.” (Phil. 3:6b) In other words, Paul was saying he was a superstar legalist! Today we might brag on how many people attend our church, how long we pray, or how many people we led to Christ last week. The end result is the same – they won’t make God any happier with us.
Nothing is wrong with any of these. The problem comes when we think they give us points with God – they don’t. He loves us unconditionally. If you start trusting in these things, you’re going to lose your joy and your ministry will crumble.
The antidote to legalism is grace. Grace means we don’t have to earn God’s love, and we don’t have to earn his smile. God is always smiling at us. Because I deserve it? Not a chance. Because I keep certain rules and regulations? Not a chance. It’s because I’m covered with the blood of Jesus Christ.
The problem for many of us in ministry is we subtly shift our perspective from what God has done for us to what we are doing for God in ministry. That’s dangerous – very dangerous. God won’t love you any more or any less no matter how you serve him. What you get out of service is joy. You don’t get approval. God approves of you, but it’s not because of what you do. He approves of you because of what Christ did for you already. That’s grace.
The Christian life is not a ritual and it’s not about rules – it’s a relationship. Religion is based upon performance, but Christianity is based on a person, Jesus Christ. Don’t ever forget that or your ministry is finished. And you’ll lose your joy. Nothing is sadder than a cynical person in ministry.
photo credit: Georgia Guidestones | 1 via photopin (license)

How Pastors Ruin Their Small Group Ministries

By Allen White

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Quit looking for a magic bullet.

A while back I watched a webcast of a pastor announcing a new small group model at his church. Their current model had connected roughly half of their members into groups, but it wasn’t attracting the other half. He felt the solution was to scrap their current model and move to a new model. I actually screamed at my computer, “No! Why are you wrecking what works for half of your people? It’s working for them.”
The pastor went on to explain that now about 60 percent of the 50 percent already in groups were embracing the new model. I chose to withhold my applause. Why? Because he already had those folks in groups! If only two-thirds of the people already in groups were signing on to the new thing, isn’t that actually going backwards?
The Most Important Thing I’ve Ever Said
Pastor, there is no one strategy or model that will appeal to your entire congregation. It doesn’t exist. At our church in California, we connected 125 percent of our average adult attendance into groups by using five different strategies simultaneously. But, wasn’t that confusing to the groups? Actually, it wasn’t. Each group only used one strategy. Was it confusing to me? That actually doesn’t matter, does it?
I’ve met a lot of pastors who want to shutter their old school Sunday school to get everyone into home groups. In fact, after seminars pastors have come up to me and said as much. I would tell them, “I know what your spiritual gift is?” Now, I had their attention. “You have the gift of martyrdom.” Of course, as Rick Warren says, the problem is you can only use that gift one time.
If It Ain’t Broke…
If Sunday School works for some of your people, run Sunday School. Don’t expect everyone to go to Sunday School, even though the old song says they “ought” to. If one type of group works for most, but not for all, then let those group work for most. Do something else with the rest.
Why Do Pastors Long for a Magic Bullet?
If one strategy could connect every member in our church, if one model could work for everyone, it would be a pastor’s dream come true. Why? Because it’s efficient or dare I say, convenient. For busy pastors, it’s easier to manage one system, not three.
Variety is the New Uniformity
Your members are looking for variety, not uniformity. Look at how many car models were made last year. Look at how many new books appear on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. Look at how many ways you can drink coffee at Starbucks. The Blue Plate Special died 50 years ago.
What is a Small Group Anyway?
Why do you have small groups? Coolness is not the right answer. Merely forming small groups could contribute to more problems. Rather than individuals leaving the church, now they might leave linking arms. (Keep reading. It’s okay.) If groups offer care, encouragement, fellowship, Bible study and leadership development, can that only happen in a small group? What if a Sunday School class was accomplishing those things? What if your existing groups were already doing that? Isn’t this meeting your goal? Isn’t this building people up?

Do New Things with New People
Rather than forcing them into the existing model, discover what will work for them. Men don’t join groups for the same reasons as women. Younger generations are motivated differently than older generations. Some folks will join because they ought to. Others will see what’s in it for them. Still others will see a chance to make a difference together. And, some will think the whole thing is lame. That’s okay.
One Size Does Not Fit All
When I arrived at Brookwood Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina, about 30 percent of the adults were in groups. It was a solid foundation. We had on-campus groups, off-campus groups, Beth Moore Bible study groups, and the Holy Smokers, who focus on Bible and barbecue. We launched lots of new groups through church-wide campaigns. We connected hundreds of new folks to groups. We gained another 30 percent in groups. Sixty percent ain’t bad.
But, as I became better acquainted with the congregation, I discovered that some in the Bible belt really were intimidated by the Bible. They didn’t join a small group because they were afraid they would have nothing to contribute to the discussion. Whoa. In California, we just asked folks to do a study with their friends. They did it. But, this was a whole other deal.
We created large groups for men, women, young couples, business people, law enforcement and senior adults. These are what Carl George calls “fishing ponds.” Large groups where people can move from the crowd of a 2,500 seat auditorium to a living room of 10-12 people.
We offered a solid recreation ministry for adults and children. We created a system of classes called BrookwoodU where people could get to know each other in a class on cooking, digital photography, leadership, Microsoft Word, sign language and even Hermeneutics. (Many friendships were forged in their hermeneutical fox holes.)
I didn’t join the staff of a megachurch to start classes or to send seniors to Branson, Missouri. But, those not connected into groups didn’t necessarily care about what I wanted. What did they need?
After four years, we reached 78 percent connected in small groups, large groups, and BrookwoodU. We didn’t get to 100 percent, but maybe next year.
You wouldn’t transition small groups to a Sunday School model. Build on what’s working. Then, figure out what you can add to that. And, for the pastor on the webcast, I wish you well. 

Allen White is the Senior Project Director and Small Group Strategist for Lifetogether Ministries (lifetogether.com). Over the last 20 years, he has led the small groups ministry in two churches (South Carolina and California) and has coached hundreds of churches across North America.
More from Allen White or visit Allen at http://allenwhite.org

Free eBook: “Social Media Guide for Churches”

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If you haven’t engaged social media before, your church is missing out on great ministry opportunities.

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If you haven’t engaged social media before, your church is missing out on great ministry opportunities.
From MCA, “This 36-page guide was written by church social media managers and is yours for free. Use it to create guidelines, train volunteers, or implement social media policies at your church.”

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Resource provided by Ministry Communicators Association

Designing for Multiplication with Millennials in Mind

Designing for Multiplication with Millennials in Mind

What story is your physical gathering space telling about your church?

Derek DeGroot

As a design architect for Aspen Group, my experience over the years has helped me identify two essential factors for church multiplication: people and place.
We’re all familiar with how most of today’s churches grow, or add people–by casting a wide net to attract new people to Sunday service and by members inviting their own family and friends. Growth spurs multiplication. As the number of attendees grows beyond the capacity of the space to hold everyone, then multiplication can occur, and a new church can be born.
While igniting a culture of multiplication always begins with people, it always happens within the context of place.
As we’ve seen, place can take many forms. It can mean meeting at the local Panera or someone’s home until you’ve had enough consistent growth to warrant starting another new house church, or renting or buying a church building so the original faith community can grow even more. It can mean setting up and tearing down every Sunday at your local high school. And it can mean gathering in an actual, physical church building.
Church planters often downplay the significance of place as a key factor to church growth. Churches can grow, they argue, in any setting. And this is true. But the setting we select to gather God’s people tells a story—both about the space itself and about the people occupying it. The physical place a church chooses to call “home” says something about that church—who it is, what it values, and how it reaches and disciples people in the context of our culture.
Millennials, today’s 18- to 30-year-olds, are especially attuned to the way a physical space either helps them find their place or pushes them away. In our recent Barna/CKN study, “Making Space for Millennials,” research revealed that young adults are looking for churches that recognize and meet their needs for cultural relevancy and authenticity (“Is this church for real?”), visual clarity (“Tell me where I am and what I should do next now that I’m here”), modularity (a recognition that Millennials are piecing their lives together based on myriad options) and a craving for physical spaces that help them connect with God through nature.
Churches that understand Millennials’ needs are well-positioned to make room for them to discover God and grow in their faith. If you want to spark a movement of multiplication that includes Millennials, here are some aspects to consider about your church’s space:
Get your visual language right
In our study, “Making Space for Millennials,” the need for “visual clarity” emerged. Visual clarity includes everything that a person sees and experiences when they interact with your church. Starting with your church’s website, which is frequently the first impression someone has of a church, people infer certain things about your church based on the way you present yourself. If your website seems dated, confusing or dry, many will assume this is what they’ll experience when they go to your church. If your church has a website, does it convey your church’s DNA—who you are, what you believe, and what people can expect when they worship with you?
What about the physical space where your church gathers? What story is it telling people about you? Do people come in and immediately know where to go and what to do? Is it clear where they should sit? Are there unwritten codes of conduct that new visitors would understand but would make first-timers feel confused or alienated?
Committed believers need inspiration; the unchurched need to identify whether they belong. Does your church send visually clear signals—and are they the signals you intend to send?
Provide a respite from the movement
Churches focused on multiplication are driven by a big vision, which is typically built and executed by high-energy, high-capacity leaders. And yet Millennials are reminding all of us of the need to build respite into our spaces. Sometimes in growing a church, we forget about creating spaces where we can be alone with God, space that’s free of function. It won’t take much—a nook, a grotto, a tucked-away seating—to show young people you have their best interests in mind, and not just your own vision for multiplying the church.
Don’t forget the Third Place
Things have changed within the church. Once the hub of spiritual activity, today’s church provides just one piece of a modular spiritual journey. We may worship together, but we also attend Bible study on Google chat, give money to multiple causes, volunteer at local religious groups and so on. We piece together the experiences of our lives. And Millennials, more than any generation, live in this modular way.
Third Places–neutral community spaces that encourage social interaction–are a vital way to offer connection in the face of modularity. If you need to go off site to places like Starbucks or Panera for all of your church meetings, mentoring opportunities and life conversations, you probably need to create a Third Place space to call your own.
Don’t forget the windows
All generations love nature, but Millennials crave it. If you’re looking for a new church building to rent or own, keep nature in mind. How’s the view of God’s creation? Even in cold climates, young people want access to outdoor spaces to connect with God. When identifying a space to worship in, consider the natural light. If a space is completely lacking windows, maybe it’s best to pass.
It may seem like a small detail, but natural light actually plays a huge role in our emotional well-being. Design 101? Maybe. But don’t forget the windows.
Design for multiplication
If you want to ignite a culture of multiplication, you have to design for one. What is the physical space where your church meets saying about your congregation? Does it help people find their place in your church? Is it an environment that will facilitate multiplication, or is the space where you do church a barrier to it?
Derek DeGroot is a church architect for Aspen Group, an integrated design-build company serving the Midwest. Learn more about designing for multiplication at DeGroot’s “Designing with Millennials in Mind” workshop at Exponential East 2015.